Classic New Orleans — The Sazerac

Real New Orleans drinkers love a Sazerac, the city’s official cocktail and Ms. Cocktail Den’s favorite drink. Although the Sazerac’s exact birth year is a bit hazy (as are many things if one properly experiences the city), Billy Wilkinson and Vincent Miret created it in the late 1890s at the Sazerac House. Its popularity endures and expands over time.

The Sazerac

2 ounces rye
.25 ounces super simple syrup
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Teaspoon of absinthe

Coat the inside of a chilled glass with absinthe, discard the remainder, add the other ingredients, and stir with some New Orleans style. Lemon twist garnish optional.

The Sazerac is many things. Weak is not one of them. Some early versions used cognac as the base, but most modern versions use rye. Think of the Sazerac as an absinthe enhanced twist on an Old Fashioned with special bitters. Both the Peychaud’s bitters (another New Orleans creation) and absinthe, used in my When Ernest Met Mary, are indispensable parts of the cocktail. You can serve the Sazerac at room temperature. It’s also quite good if you stir it with a couple of ice cubes and then remove the cubes before serving (this is how I do it). If you’re still in a New Orleans cocktail mood, try my Len Bon Temps Roulé.

Want something assertive, alcohol forward, and utterly magnificent? Then make yourself a Sazerac.